God's Purposes for Money
Proverbs 3:9
As I have mentioned before, the way
that we handle our money is perhaps the
truest indicator of the spiritual
condition of the heart. It is often a
subject that many feel awkward
discussing, God's Word places great
emphasis on the matter of money and
possessions.
For example, the Bible contains more
than 500 references to prayer and
almost 500 references to faith, but
there are more than 2,000 references to
money and possessions. Out of 38
parables that Jesus gave in the
Gospels, 16 deal with how we handle our
money. Jesus said more about money and
possessions than about heaven and hell
combined. One out of every 10 verses
in the gospels deals with money or
possessions: 288 verses in the four
gospels!
A man with a natural mind uses human
reasoning before he decides to obey
God's Word. A man with a spiritual
mind begins by obeying a Scriptural
command. The man with a natural mind
resorts to his own understanding and
experiences the destruction and
disillusionment that go along with it.
It is important that we understand
God's purposes for money and His wisdom
behind those purposes.
There are four basic purposes that God
has for money. To provide basic needs,
to indicate direction, to unite
Christians, and to demonstrate
supernatural power. We see these four
purposes in the account of Elijah in 1
Kings 17:1-6. READ!
1. Elijah's needs were met beside
the brook.
2. God demonstrated supernatural
power in using the ravens to feed
him.
3. God allowed the brook to dry up
as a signal for Elijah to change
direction.
4. He then used the widow of
Zarephath to accomplish His
purpose of uniting believers
together and seeing the rewards
of thanksgiving and fellowship
which come by meeting the needs
of others.
The purposes of money are not to
provide security, establish
independence, or create power and
influence. God's purposes are:
I. To Provide Basic Needs. Mt. 6:26-30
A. This establishes daily dependence
upon God.
1. Since the beginning of time,
mankind has attempted to
become independent of God.
2. There is within each one of us
a desire to be self-sufficient
so that we can be our own
boss.
3. We tend to pray, "Give us
riches for our future needs"
or "Give us this month our
monthly paycheck".
4. However, God taught us to
pray, "Give us this day our
daily bread" (Mt. 6:11).
5. He knows that daily needs
produce daily dependence.
B. This will deepen our love for the
Lord.
1. When we fail to recognize our
need for a person, we tend to
lose our love for that person.
2. God created us to need
Him...we are only complete in
Christ, and apart from Him we
can do nothing at all.
3. Every man, whether rich or
poor, must recognize his daily
dependence upon God.
C. This will develop a spirit of
gratefulness.
1. Gratefulness is a delightful
by-product of contentment with
what God provides.
2. We begin to lose our
contentment when we compare
what we have with what others
have.
3. As our expectations increase,
our contentment decreases.
D. This will help us enjoy our
possessions.
1. We know that God has given us
all things to enjoy.
2. A contented person feels
wealthy because he knows that
he already possesses more than
he needs for daily living.
3. Discontent destroys our
ability to enjoy the things
that God has given to us,
since our focus is on what we
think He should have given us
rather than what we do have.
4. God warns us against
coveteousness and tells us to
"...be content with such
things as ye have..." Hebrews
13:5
II. To Confirm Direction. "Rest in the
Lord, and wait patiently for him..."
Ps. 37:7
NOTE: God will use the supply of
money or the lack of it to
confirm His direction for
many of the decisions we must
make in our lives.
A. To build our faith and vision.
1. Faith is discerning what God
wants to accomplish in and
through our lives. cf Hebrews
11:7
2. Everyone of us should ask
ourselves what can we allow
God to accomplish through our
lives that will build up
Christians and benefit the
cause of Christ?
3. We can be sure that if God
gives us clear direction that
is confirmed by Scripture, He
will provide whatever is
necessary to carry out that
direction.
4. In contrast to faith,
presumption is deciding what
we want to accomplish and
trying to get God to do it for
us.
B. To determine who is the lord of
our life.
1. We may say that Jesus Christ
is the Lord of our life...
2. However, His Lordship is
confirmed when we are obedient
to the leading of the Spirit
and the principles of His Word
in making our daily decisions.
C. To teach us patience.
1. Patience is an essential
quality for maturity in life.
2. Having to wait for God to
provide funds is one valuable
way to perfect patience.
3. Note: James 1:3-4
III. To Give To Christians. "Distributing
to the necessity of saints; given to
hospitality." Ro. 12:13
A. To unite Christians.
1. Jews and Gentiles had no
social interaction.
a. this carried over into the
early church which was made
up of both Jew and Gentile.
b. when a severe famine caused
many Jewish believers to
suffer, Paul urged every
Gentile church to collect
an offering for these
Jewish Christians.
2. Note: 2 Co. 8:14
B. To demonstrate the mark of a
Christian.
1. The mark of a true Christian
is that they want to do good.
cf Titus 2:14.
2. God gives a special desire and
power to a generous Christian
so that he is able to multiply
his good works. cf. 2 Co. 9:8
C. To multiply the potential for
giving.
1. God likens giving to planting
a harvest.
2. 2Co. 9:6, "...He which soweth
sparingly shall reap
sparingly; and he which soweth
bountifully shall reap also
bountifully."
3. The Law of the Harvest = one
kernel of corn planted
produces a stalk with 2-3 ears
of corn resulting in as much
as a 1000 kernels of corn.
IV. To Illustrate God's Power. cf.
Malachi 3:10, "...Prove me now
herewith, saith the Lord of hosts,
if I will not open you the windows
of heaven, and pour you out a
blessing, that there shall not be
room enough to receive it."
God is a supernatural God. He
wants to demonstrate His reality
and power to both Christians and
non-Christians. One means by
which He has chosen to do this is
through the miraculous provision
of money.
A. To cause Christians to trust Him.
1. Elijah proposed a test to
prove whether Israel should
worship God or Baal in 1 Kings
18.
2. Whichever one answered by
supernatural power was the one
whom they should worship.
3. In this test not only was God
shown to be the supernatural
God that He is, but the false
god Baal was mocked for his
inability to supply.
4. God is still mocking the
powerless gods of today.
B. To purify our lives and motives.
1. A prerequisite in experiencing
God's supernatural power is
actively seeking Him with a
pure heart and unselfish
motives.
2. God has warned us that if we
regard iniquity in our hearts,
He will not hear us. cf Ps.
66:18
3. The need for God's miraculous
intervention in our financial
affairs is a powerful
motivation for us to examine
our own lives.
C. To glorify God and bring the lost
to salvation.
1. God is glorified when His
people praise Him for His
mighty acts.
2. He does great things for us so
that we can report them to
others. cf. Ps. 50:15
3. When Christians are in a right
relationship with the Lord and
each other, and when they are
experiencing God's miraculous
provision in their lives, the
lost are drawn to Christ and
to the local church.
4. The greatest explosion of
church growth occurred when
the believers demonstrated the
supernatural power of God in
their lives. cf. Ac. 5:12-14
Conclusion: Four basic purposes that
God has for money: 1) To provide our
needs 2) To indicate direction for our
lives 3) To unite believers together in
giving and 4) To demonstrate His
supernatural power to us and the world.
Does our understanding and desire of
money fall into line with God's
purposes? Not for future security,
power, influence, or to be seen as a
success in the eyes of men. Is our use
of money fulfilling God's purposes or
ours? Do we need to re-evaluate our
priorities when it comes to finances?